英语听力精选进阶版 9988

 

About 1,000 people have been injured in Russia after a large meteor burned up in the skies above the southern Ural’s region causing a shockwave that damaged buildings across a wide area. Most of those hurt suffered minor¹ cuts and bruises² from flying glass, but several dozen had to be kept in hospital. The meteor released several kilotonnes of energy equivalent to that of a nuclear bomb. An official in Chelyabinsk, Polina Zolotarevskaya, described what she had seen.

 

一块大陨石在俄罗斯乌拉尔地区南部上空燃烧后引发冲击波，大约1000人受伤，一大片地区的建筑物受损。大多数受伤者因轻度割伤和飞溅的玻璃而划伤，但还有几十人仍在医院。这颗陨石释放了几千吨的能量，相当于一枚核弹的能量。车里雅宾斯克一名官员Polina Zolotarevskaya描述了自己的所见所闻。

 

“It was quite extraordinary. We saw a very bright light and then there was a kind of a track, white and yellow in the sky. It was a very broad track. And then in several seconds, there was a strong explosion.”

 

“场面太壮观了，我们看到很亮的一道光，然后天空就出现了白色和黄色的轨道，轨道很宽，几秒钟后就发生了强烈爆炸。”

 

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said he thanked God that no big fragments from the meteor had fallen in populated areas.

 

俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京说，陨石没有在人口密集地区落下大碎片，为此他感谢上帝。

 

An asteroid³ about half the size of a football field has safely passed Earth in what scientists say as the closest known approach for an object of its size. At its nearest point, the rock, with a diameter of about 45 metres came within about 28,000 kilometres of Earth, closer than some TV and weather satellites. Scientists say the asteroid has nothing to do with the Russian meteor. It’s just a cosmic coincidence.

 

一颗有半个足球场那么大的陨石与地球擦身而过，科学家称这是至今所知的此类大小陨石距离地球最近的一次。这颗陨石直径约45米，距离地球最近时只有28000千米，比有的电视和气象卫星距离还要近。科学家称这颗陨石与俄罗斯的那颗没有关系，这只是宇宙间的巧合。

 

The South African Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius has denied murdering his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. In a statement issued after Mr Pistorius was charged in Pretoria, his family said that he disputed the charge. This report from Peter Biles.

 

南非残疾人冠军奥斯卡·皮斯托利斯否认谋杀女友瑞瓦·史蒂恩卡姆帕。皮斯托利斯在比勒陀利亚被指控后，其家人就发表声明称他否认指控。彼得·鲍尔斯报道。

 

Oscar Pistorius remains⁴ in police custody⁵ after his dramatic court appearance at which he broke down and sobbed⁶. He’ll spend the next three days at a police station in Pretoria before returning to court on Tuesday. State prosecutors⁷ will oppose a bail⁸ application. They say this is a case of premeditated murder. But Oscar Pistorius’s family issued a statement saying the alleged⁹ murder was disputed in the strongest terms. They refer to the killing¹⁰ of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp as a terrible, terrible tragedy.

 

在法庭上，奥斯卡·皮斯托利斯戏剧性地情绪失控并哭了起来，随后就一直在监禁中。未来三天他将在比勒陀利亚的警察局度过，然后周二回到法庭。国家公诉人反对保释申请，他们称这是一起有预谋的杀害。但奥斯卡·皮斯托利斯的家人严词发表声明，称所谓的谋杀极富争议，他们称杀害瑞瓦·史蒂恩卡姆帕一事是场很可怕的悲剧。

 

The Venezuelan government has released the first photo of President Hugo Chavez since his fourth round of cancer surgery which he underwent in Cuba last December. There’s been widespread speculation¹¹ about when or whether the president will resume his leadership. Sarah Grainger reports from Caracas.

 

自去年12月乌戈·查韦斯在古巴做第四次癌症手术以来，委内瑞拉政府首次公开他的照片。人们普遍揣测总统是否会继续执掌大权，Sarah Grainger在加拉加斯报道。

 

The photos show Mr Chavez wearing his customary tracksuit, reclining on a bed next to his two daughters. He’s smiling in one of the pictures reading a copy of a recent edition of the Cuban newspaper Granma. Addressing the public on state television, Venezuela’s Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said President Chavez was breathing through a tracheal tube and could not speak at present. But he also stressed the measure was reversible. Ministers have been under pressure to produce some good news about President Chavez. Just a week ago the government announced that it was devaluing Venezuela’s currency.

 

照片上查韦斯穿着惯常的运动装斜靠在床上，床边是他的两个女儿。照片上他面带微笑，阅读着最近一期的古巴报纸《格拉玛报》。委内瑞拉信息部长维勒加斯在国家电视台上向公众发表讲话，他说总统查韦斯通过气管导管呼吸，目前还无法讲话。但他还强调这些措施是可逆的。各位部长头顶压力来炮制有关总统查韦斯的好消息。就在一周前，政府宣称将对委内瑞拉货币实施贬值。

 

World News from the BBC

The International Committee of the Red Cross says the humanitarian¹² situation in Syria is catastrophic. The organisation’s director of operations said he’d seen unbearable¹³ suffering for civilians¹⁴ on a recent trip to the country. Imogen Foulkes reports from Geneva.

 

国际红十字会称叙利亚的人道主义危机是灾难性的，该组织负责人称他看到人们最近回国途中经历的艰辛万苦。伊莫金·福克斯在日内瓦报道。

 

The International Committee of the Red Cross has been working in Syria since the start of the conflict. It describes the situation now as nothing short of catastrophic. The number of different armed groups is increasing. Villages change hands on a daily basis. Attacks on hospitals and the killing of nurses and doctors are now so common. The Red Cross says that the health service in some parts of the country has become a wasteland.

 

自叙利亚冲突开始以来，国际红十字就一直在该国进行工作。该组织称叙利亚目前的局势已是灾难，各种武装组织的数量日益增多。村庄每天都在变换大王旗，对医院的袭击和对护士、医生的杀戮已司空见惯。红十字称该国部分地区的卫生服务已经荒废。

 

The authorities in the Netherlands have raided a meat processing plant they suspect of mixing horsemeat with beef and selling it as pure beef. It’s the latest in a series of similar actions across Europe. As Matthew Price reports from Brussels:

 

荷兰当局突袭了一家肉食加工厂，怀疑其将马肉同牛肉混合然后当做纯牛肉出售。这是最近整个欧洲类似行动的一部分，Matthew Price在布鲁塞尔报道。

 

This scandal has spread fast. Across Europe, some 13 countries so far have been affected¹⁵. The Brussels bureaucracy has moved uncharacteristically rapidly. EU food safety officials decided¹⁶ to start new tests immediately to find out how much of the food chain has been affected. It’s clear this is not the result of one or two rogue¹⁷ suppliers. It’s beginning to look like an industry and continental-wide problem.

 

这起丑闻传播很广，整个欧洲已有13个国家受到影响。布鲁塞尔当局行动迅速，这点很不寻常。欧盟食品安全官员决定立即开始新测试，以探明究竟食物链在多大程度上受到影响。很显然这不是一两家不法供应商的行为，目前看来似乎是整个行业甚至席卷整个大陆的问题。

 

A British academic has stumbled upon a 500-year-old proclamation calling for the arrest of the Renaissance¹⁸ political writer Niccolo Machiavelli in the Italian city of Florence. The Medici family, who ruled Florence at the time, accused Machiavelli of plotting to overthrow¹⁹ them. He was detained, tortured and placed under house arrest, where he started writing his famous book The Prince, describing the art of political manipulation. The term Machiavellian²⁰ is still synonymous with the cunning pursuit of power.

在意大利城市佛罗伦萨，一位英国学者偶然发现一张500年历史的公告，内容是呼吁逮捕文艺复兴政治作家尼古拉·马基雅维利。当时统治佛罗伦萨的美第奇家族指控马基雅维利阴谋推翻他们，他被捕了，然后遭到毒打，并被软禁起来，他就在软禁期间创作了著名的《君主论》，论述政治操纵的艺术。Machiavellian一词至今仍是不择手段追逐权力的同义词。

 

1 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

2 bruises   

n.瘀伤，伤痕，擦伤( bruise的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He was covered with bruises after falling off his bicycle. 他从自行车上摔了下来，摔得浑身伤痕。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The pear had bruises of dark spots. 这个梨子有碰伤的黑斑。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 asteroid   

n.小行星；海盘车(动物)

参考例句：

• Astronomers have yet to witness an asteroid impact with another planet.天文学家还没有目击过小行星撞击其它行星。
• It's very unlikely that an asteroid will crash into Earth but the danger exists.小行星撞地球的可能性很小，但这样的危险还是存在的。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

6 sobbed   

哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说

参考例句：

• She sobbed out the story of her son's death. 她哭诉着她儿子的死。
• She sobbed out the sad story of her son's death. 她哽咽着诉说她儿子死去的悲惨经过。

7 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

8 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

9 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

10 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

11 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

12 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

13 unbearable   

adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的

参考例句：

• It is unbearable to be always on thorns.老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。
• The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became.他越想越觉得无法忍受。

14 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

15 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

16 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

17 rogue   

n.流氓；v.游手好闲

参考例句：

• The little rogue had his grandpa's glasses on.这淘气鬼带上了他祖父的眼镜。
• They defined him as a rogue.他们确定他为骗子。

18 renaissance   

n.复活，复兴，文艺复兴

参考例句：

• The Renaissance was an epoch of unparalleled cultural achievement.文艺复兴是一个文化上取得空前成就的时代。
• The theme of the conference is renaissance Europe.大会的主题是文艺复兴时期的欧洲。

19 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

20 machiavellian   

adj.权谋的，狡诈的

参考例句：

• A Machiavellian plot was suspected.人们怀疑背后有不可告人的阴谋。
• In this layer,Obama implied American policies that are cautious and Machiavellian.在这个层面，奥巴马含蓄地表达了美国的谨慎、权谋的（新）政策。